Mateusz Bogusz grew up hungry to win. After joining the Los Angeles Football Club early last season, the attacking midfielder has happily had his fill.
“That’s the best you can do,” said the 22-year-old Bogusz, a starter in 14 of 15 LAFC games this year, tallying four goals and three assists to support an 8-4-3 overall record. “When you compete and especially when we win, it’s amazing. So that’s what we’re doing.”
Exiting a losing situation in Spain with Segunda Division team Ibiza, the Polish midfielder found the thick of competition with the defending 2022 MLS Cup champions, quickly earning chances to play in big spots for head coach Steve Cherundolo.
“To be honest,” Bogusz said, “I wanted to join this type of club.”
As an in-form LAFC (6-4-3, 21 points, 5th in the West) visits Atlanta eyeing a fifth consecutive victory and their 100th time taking three points in a Major League Soccer regular-season match, Bogusz said he expects their current run of “very good football” to persist.
Winning the club’s 206th appearance in the league would tie LAFC with the Seattle Sounders as the fastest teams to reach 100 victories (excluding the MLS shootout era, when the L.A. Galaxy set the bar in 2002 at 193 games).
“Not only do you win championships by having good players, but it’s creating a winning culture by everyone in the club from A to Z,” Cherundolo said. “I’ve been very impressed by how LAFC has gone about their business over the first six seasons, and now we’re continuing our seventh.”
Beginning with their expansion season of 2018, LAFC leads MLS in a variety of categories, including:
Wins: 99
Points: 346
Goals: 397
Shots on target: 1,230
Five-goal games: 11
Home record: 65-13-25
Add eight playoff triumphs, two Supporters’ Shields, nine victories in CONCACAF Champions League to go with an MLS Cup and individual player accomplishments like seven appearances in the MLS Best XI, 13 All-Star nods, an MVP award and three Golden Boot trophies, and it’s apparent why LAFC can be the third MLS team to advance to three consecutive league finals.
The previous two, of course, occurred under Cherundolo, who followed Bob Bradley’s foundational tenure by becoming the only first-year MLS manager to lift the MLS Cup and Supporters’ Shield on the way to setting the bar for the best 50-game record.
“The culture was built prior to my arrival, and I see my role as someone who is trying to continue down that path and maybe go a step further,” Cherundolo said.
“Culture is something that needs to be cherished, understood but also worked on daily,” he added. “That’s something we do talk about regularly, especially when we onboard new players and employees.”
Omar Campos, 21, a pacey Mexican fullback who signed a four-year deal with L.A. in January, partly credited his decision to leave Liga MX on LAFC’s reputation for success.
“It motivated me more to just give it my all and continue in that search and remain in that fight to win titles,” said Campos, who after a bit of an adjustment period has started and played 90 minutes in each of the previous four games (a combined score of 11-1 in LAFC’s favor).
Extending that run at Mercedes-Benz Stadium requires winning in a building where a result has eluded LAFC twice before.
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Atlanta United (3-6-4) has fallen short of expectations in the league this year, however, averaging a point a game while going winless since March to sit 12th in the East.
Should the 2018 MLS Cup champions derail LAFC, they would also register their 100th regular-season win (in match No. 240, good for fourth fastest outside of shootout-era teams).
LAFC AT ATLANTA UNITED FC
When: 4:39 p.m. Saturday
Where: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
TV/radio: Apple TV (MLS Season Pass)/710 AM, ESPN LA app, 980 AM, Sirius XM FC
